DBQ 1999
By the mid-1700 the British Colonies is North America began to develop a greater sense of identity, unity and independence, due to the newly imposed duties they critically oppose, but were enforced by the British Parliament. Since a settlement was unattainable between the Colonies and the British, the colonists saw no other way out except for independence, which never would’ve been achieved if it wasn’t for the vital unity and identity attained by the colonists, right before the eve of the Revolutionary War. In the first couple decades the soon to be United States of America, was plainly known as the 13 Colonies. Even though they thought of themselves as individual communities and separated themselves as much as possible, the rest of the world viewed them as one, the British Colonies. All colonies were equally judged and attacked in time of battle. If it hadn’t been for the early relationship with Britain, the colonies would’ve never been able to defend themselves against the enemy, due to their frail unity. For instance, at the sign of potential war against France and the Native Americans, Britain asked the colonies to meet in New York to host an intercolonial congress at Albany, where the British and Colonial residents w
ere to meet with the Iroquois and reinstate their grievances and restore peace. Every colony was invited, yet two refused to attend, Virginia and New Jersey. Although this conflict could have destroyed every colony, two still refused to unite to resolve this problem. Benjamin Franklin also was concerned about the essential colonial union, however, he addresses his concerns in an artistic never before displayed way. Benjamin Franklin printed the first political cartoon in American history, the captions stated: “Unite Or Die!” (Document A) This cartoon contained a snake, who based on a folk legend was cut into pieces, and could only revive and live if it somehow joined its severed parts together before sundown. Each separate part of the cut up snake represented the separate colonies and according to Franklin the colonies could only survive war if they we’re to unite as one and fight together against their opponents, if they failed to they would eventually “Die”. In spite of all the good advice they received they still remained uninterested and overlooked Benjamin Franklin’s political cartoon debut. Instead of giving up after being shut down, on the contrary Franklin still lingered; he proposed a new idea known as the “Short Hints towards a Scheme for Uniting the Northern Colonies.” In his draft he proposed a “President General” that should be appointed by the Crown, to command and administer laws in the union. It also called for”Grand Council” to be elected for three-year terms by the lower houses of each colony. In Franklin’s vision this union would raise an army, levy taxes, built forts, and regulate other causes of concern. Yet every colony rejected Franklin’s Plan, of all colonies under one administration. Due to the colonies fallacy towards union, George Washington surrendered his small force to the French due to a lack of appropriate defense needed, which co
Some topics in this essay:
South Carolina,
Die” Document,
John Dickinson’s,
British Colonies,
Northern Colonies”,
Anglicization Period,
John Dickinson,
British Parliament,
North America,
Europeans European,
british parliament,
british army,
mixture blood,
john dickinson,
british colonies,
identity unity independence,
bushels grain,
sugar act,
north america,
congress petition,
colonies united,
Join now to see the rest of the essay!
Approximate Word count = 1282
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
Example Essays Home
